Grimaldo’s Mile

In by Jacqueline BronerNovember 12, 2017

July 21, 2018July 21, 20186:00 am - 9:30 am

This is the quintessential NYC open water 1 mile swim.

This swim honors the lifeguard Grimaldo Medrano who made it possible for NYC open water swimmers to swim past the jetties without being whistled in by the lifeguards. Grimaldo’s loyal confidence and acceptance of us open water swimmers made it possible for us all to swim today in what we think is the perfect training grounds. Unfortunately cancer took him from us when he was only 34. This swim honors and recognizes his life and commitment to our community. We thank him for all he did for us.

This is the perfect “newbie” race, for the beginner racer or triathlete whether they’ve experienced open water before or not. Conditions are usually gentle due to the geographically protected waters of Brighton Beach and Coney Island. You swim parallel to shore so if you have any doubts you can easily swim to shore, find a volunteer or race official, and hand in you race chip and say, “today just wasn’t my day, maybe next time.” That being said, it is also the perfect race to challenge your favorite competitors and there is talk about having a special wave for teams that want to show how well they have trained this year – which team will have the best showing: Brooklyn Tri, TNYA, Redtide, Bearcats, AGUA, or Cooper Union?

Practice your beach starts and you sighting before the race, but after the race invite your friends to join you in taking advantage of Amusements, Games, and Dining that Coney Island and Brighton Beach can offer you.